Later, with the help of many relatives and friends, Newman found another teacher to continue studying piano and harmony. Newman, who is eight years old, has become a minor celebrity in the local area. On one occasion, the first Prime Ministers of Poland and China, the outstanding piano master PaDylev, was recommended to play a passage in front of piano master during his visit here, which won the praise of the master. Padev took advantage of his prestige in politics and music to arrange a solo concert for Newman in new york, and introduced this talented child to his disciple, Polish pianist and composer Sigmund Stochovsky (1870- 1946). Stokhovsky admired Newman very much and offered him a scholarship, which solved Newman's worries about continuing his studies.
However, as the eldest son, 13-year-old Newman had to find a job as a piano accompaniment for variety shows at the seaside theater in new york. With the continuous tour of the troupe, Newman's fame gradually rang, which provided him with an opportunity to enter Broadway later. At the age of twenty, Newman made friends with the famous composer george gershwin at that time. On the stage of new york Harlem Theater, Newman's artistic talent still has room for further display. He studied conducting and directed musical performances, such as Baby Girl and Strange Face by Gershwin Brothers (George and Ella), Spring is Here by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, Lift Your Head and Ten Years by Jerome Kern. At the same time, Newman studied composition and created some songs and several musicals.
From Broadway in new york to Hollywood in Los Angeles, it was a decisive turning point in alfred newman's life. Irving berlin (1888- 1989), the most successful American pop music composer in the 20th century, contributed to his transformation. From 1935, Berlin began to transform into a Hollywood film composer. Seeing Newman's great potential, he urged the young man to go to the west coast for gold with him.
Newman showed his hand when he first arrived in Hollywood. He was the music director of irving berlin's musical Go to the Moon. Samuel Goldwyn, the boss of Lianyi Film Company, was moved by the good music effect of the film and immediately signed a contract with him as the artistic director of the company. From then on, Newman stepped into the silver world of movies, where he groped for more than half a century and made great achievements. In the fellowship company, he is one of the two giants in the music department, and the other is equally famous. He is max steiner, who composed music for the films Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Zola and so you think you can dance. Newman's first film soundtrack was "The Devil Who Paid". He started from this film. He worked very efficiently, with an average of eight to ten soundtracks per year. However, as far as his creative achievements are concerned, the most influential thing is after he switched to Twentieth Century Fox Film Company. Since 1939, Newman has been the head of the company's music department for 20 years. During this period, he has made remarkable achievements both in his own creative achievements and in organizing, managing and supporting other music practitioners.
In the first year of Fox in the 20th century, Newman created 18 movie soundtracks in one breath, so when he was nominated for the next year's Oscar Music Award, he monopolized four films, namely Wuthering Heights, The Humpback of Notre Dame, They Will Have Music and Rain from Heaven. But when the judges vote, the repeated nominations of the same candidate often kill each other, so Newman didn't win any awards this year, and the best film music award was won by Crossing the Mountain.
About a year later, Newman had the opportunity to collaborate with john ford, the great director of Crossing the Mountains, to create the soundtrack for Ford's film How Green My Valley is. In the music of how green was my valley, Newman used the theme he used in 1935' s MGM film "Dear Enemy" about the Irish revolution, and also used a beautiful folk song "Sixpence", which made the soundtrack of the film very warm and touching and greatly enhanced the artistic appeal of the film. The film won five Oscars at 194 1, including best film and best director.
Newman's motto is "sit in the room and use all your pencils". It is this rigorous and meticulous academic concept that makes his music creation constantly strive for perfection and produces artistic effects that are extremely harmonious with the camera screen. Newman composed music for 269 films in his life, and served as music director and music consultant for 162 films. He won nine Oscars. In addition, he was nominated for the Best Score Award, and his influential masterpieces include Events of State (1945), Everything about Eve (1950), true and false princess (1956) and South Pacific (1. Newman's personal record has never been broken!
Ironically, however, in the eyes of the world, his achievements as a music arranger and conductor are still higher than that of a composer. Critics point out that as the former, he can skillfully adapt folk tunes or so-called "pseudo-folk songs" into bands or chorus works and apply them to his own music, thus making these well-known music have unprecedented artistic appeal. Sometimes, he can develop one or two pleasant materials into poetic and unforgettable ones. Naturally, as a sociable musician, Newman himself prefers conducting. His conducting style is a combination of romance, sadness and fascination, which can fully arouse the mood of the whole band. However, it seems that his original works are not as fearless and adventurous as his two colleagues, bernard herrmann and Miklos Rozsa, and always appear elegant in tone. Maybe this is Newman's nature. Newman is modest, easy-going and approachable, which is in sharp contrast with Herman, who is sensitive and willful, and Rosa, who keeps people away.
Although his music is relatively traditional and conservative, it is more popular with movie audiences. When preparing the soundtrack of the unprecedented masterpiece How the West Won, Newman realized that a lot of background music was needed to render the historical scene of1before and after the Civil War in the middle of the 9th century 100 years. With the help of his collaborator Ken Derby, Newman finally finished the score. In order to express that particular era, he widely adopted folk songs that were widely circulated in various periods in American history, such as Johnny Comes Home, Green Leaves and even the soul song written by Thomas Harding.
As the head of the music department of Fox Company, Newman's gentle elder demeanor has also made his team an efficient and harmonious new force. Under his guidance and training, young composers who have made their mark in the field of film music creation are not only Herman and Rosa mentioned above, but also David Lachin and john williams. Later, Alfred's two younger brothers, Lionel and Emile, joined in one after another and became the famous Newman three brothers in the film industry, which became a beautiful talk for a while.
From 65438 to 0959, alfred newman bid farewell to 20th Century Fox Film Company, where he worked for 20 years, and became an independent artist. He never put down his pen and baton. Until 1970 died, he finished the music of George Sidon International Airport. He used early jazz words to express the busy working scene at the airport day after day, and the soundtrack won Newman the last Oscar nomination in his life.
1February, 970 17, Newman, a master of film music, died of emphysema, and his death date coincided with his birthday. In his 69-year life, he built a monument for himself with the high output of four films each year. As David Racine said, "Only after working with him for many years can you become more and more aware of his influence and significance in the field of film music."